Federal Reserve Bank

While on the Board, we have prioritized acting in our fiduciary capacity as Directors above maintaining consensus and the status quo. While we have acted professionally, we have not hesitated to raise difficult issues to NFA staff and have advocated for changes to executive compensation, audit practices, due diligence and nomination procedures for public Directors.

The credibility of the Federal Reserve appears to be waning as the market refuses to take their threats of pulling away the liquidity punchbowl seriously. On what was, by any objective measure, a spectacularly bad non-farms payroll number on Friday, the S&P 500 futures rallied

U.S. stocks fluctuated, after the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell from a record, as investors assessed corporate earnings and stimulus prospects. The dollar rose to a four-month high and European shares closed at a six- year best.

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard, who votes on policy this year, said the odds of tapering bond purchases have risen along with gains in the labor market, and any reduction should be modest to account for low inflation.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose as data showing higher home prices boosted shares of builders. European stocks fell for the first time in three days, while the euro gained against most of its peers and the yen snapped a three-day decline versus the dollar.

The Federal Reserve could maintain its $85 billion in monthly bond purchases, now at a “torrid” pace, even as the job market improves, said James Bullard, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.